Just Watched

Gilad Shalit to be freed

"The decision regarding the release of Gilad Shalit is one of the hardest I have taken ... I understand the difficulty in digesting that these villains who committed these crimes against your loved ones will not be paying the full price that they deserve to," Netanyahu wrote.

Just Watched

Outrage over prisoner exchange

But, he said: "The state of Israel does not abandon its soldiers and its citizens."

Nearly eight out of 10 Israelis favor the deal, according to the poll of 500 people conducted by the Dahaf Polling Institute for the daily Yedioth Aharonoth.

The families of some Palestinian prisoners being released had mixed feelings about the swap, they told CNN.

Mohamad Abu Khalil, whose son Ayman got three life sentences plus 90 years in jail, is glad his son is being freed -- but said he won't be coming home.

"It's better that Ayman is going to be released from Israeli jails, but sad that he won't be around his family here. It's better to be transferred to another country than being in Israeli jails," his father said.

The official Israeli list of prisoner releases lists him as being sent "abroad," rather than to Gaza or the West Bank, without specifying where.

The Israel Defense Forces declared a number of sites connected to the prisoner transfer and Shalit release to be closed military zones as of Monday.

The prisoners list released by Israel features 477 names, including those of Ahlam Tamimi, serving life terms for being an accomplice in the 2001 bombing of a Sbarro pizza restaurant, and Amneh Muna, who plotted the killing of a 16-year-old Israeli boy in 2001 and received a life sentence.

The most notable name not on the list is that of jailed Palestinian lawmaker Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences.

He was convicted in an Israeli court on murder and other charges related to his role in planning attacks on Israelis during the second Intifada.

Israel's Prisons Authority said the Palestinians slated for release are being taken to two facilities -- one for the 27 female prisoners on the list, the rest for the men -- from which they will be released together.

Once freed, they will be under various restrictions on a case-by-case basis: Some will not be allowed to leave the country, while others will have other restrictions on their movement or be required to report their whereabouts to local police, Justice Ministry spokesman Moshe Cohen told CNN.

Shalit, meanwhile, will be transferred back into Israeli territory via the Kerem Shalom border crossing and will undergo medical tests and debriefing at an air force base, the Israeli military said.

Once that is complete, he will be flown to his home at Mitzpe Hila, north of Haifa.